Keita

2 Pages 588 Words

SUMMARY

Every African name has a secret meaning and significance, where only the griots hold the knowledge of these names. Keita was a chief tribe of Early Mali during the pre-colonial period. “Keita” is based on the book written by D.T. Niane, Sundiata. It is based on the story of the thirteenth century King of Mali, Sundiata Keita. The history of the ancient Mali king is told through a griot named Djéliba. He is telling the story to a little boy named Mabo Keita to fulfill the historical tradition of a griot. Sundiata Keita is Mabo’s ancestor and it is essential for Djéliba to pass down history to the next generation.
On the contrary, Mabo’s mother is outraged by the storytelling because it has a negative impact on his colonial education. The fact that they live in a modernized, Western civilization, Mabo’s mother seemed to have adapted to the ways of the colonizer. When Djéliba first arrived, that evening his mother cooked a white meal, spaghetti. The griot also noticed that Mabo’s mother did not do any housework because she hired a black maid named Bintou. The Sankofa principle (claiming the retrospective of one’s heritage) seems to play a vital role throughout the film.

RESPONSE

I think the Sankofa lesson was portrayed in the film through the ways of Mabo learning the ancestral past, his mother and his teacher. The griot came to town to fulfill an important duty. It was Djéliba’s duty make Mabo Keita aware of his past to reclaim history. It was vital that history would not be forgotten by the ways of the changing world. He was surrounded by a modernized civilization in which he was adapting to colonial customs through education.
I believe that Mabo acted accordingly due to the fact that his mother seemed to have forgotten where she came from. I noticed in the film that his mother prepared spaghetti and being a white meal, I think that she needed to reclaim her heritage as well. ...